The Eternia Academy
by Tenshi-Hikari
Summary: Eternia Academy is known for it's topnotch elite merceneries... Young Umino Ione is accepted into this school, and she is whisked into the world of magic, monsters and weapons. What will come to her? [Help wanted, full shoutout inside!]
1. Eternia Academy, Prologue

Well, here I came up with a (in my opinion) good idea. Why not take the heroes/known people from FF7, FF8, FF9, FF10 and FF10-2 and FF7:AC and put them all into a one huge academy, whisk in a couple OCs and see what happens! Anyways, this is my plead to you, people! I need your imagination here! I need more OCs to the story, so if you may, please help a writer in trouble, promote this to your friends or something! Thank you. And now, without further ado, here is the prologue of my story:

**The Eternia Academy**

**

* * *

**

_It's the year 2035. Technology is advanced, and monsters roam the lands. A military academy called Eternia Academy has been founded in 2000, to train mercenaries to ward off these monsters. 'Tis not easy to get in, but once you do, a whole new world awaits you. You will learn the art of blades, master black and white magic, meet new people, learn to battle monsters and to uphold peace. You will learn the ways of a warrior, the path of a healer, the ways of an excellent technician, close combat and how to handle animals. Many adventures await you, young one. It would be a shame to pass them up..._

"Mom! Mom! I got accepted!" A girl with funnily braided auburn-hair ran from her room, and into the living room. She lived alone with her mother and her little brother in a medium-sized apartment, three bedrooms, a washroom, a toilet, a kitchen and a living room. As she ran, she was holding a slip of paper in her hands and a thousand-watt smile on her face.

"Slow down, dear! What happened?" Her mother, an intelligent-looking woman with her warm brown hair on a high, elegant bun asked and stopped her sixteen-year-old daughter's stampede. Her daughter was still jumping under her mother's emerald gaze, and after a while, she lifted her own, seagreen orbs to meet her mother's.

"The Eternia Academy! The high-tech academy I applied into? I got accepted!" She shouted and waved the small, yet so important letter in her hands.

"Oh my God! That's great, honey!" Her mother congratulated her child and hugged her, jumping up and down together with her.

"What's going on?" A groggy voice asked, and the sleepy face of eight-year-old Daisuke stood at the living room door. The older woman caught her daughter's important document, she knew what was about to happen.

"I got into the Eternia Academy!" Ione shouted, lifted her brother to her arms and spun him around while giggling.

"You did? Hey, no fair! I wanted to go!" Her brother protested and smacked his sister's back with his hands.

"Yeah, but you're not sixteen yet, suckaah!" Ione taunted her brother, and in return, he pinched her cheeks, rather painfully.

"OW! You're cruising for bruising, monkey!" Ione shouted, caught her brother in a neck lock and began to noogie him.

"Noo! Stop, stop, lemme gooo!"

"Okay, enough you two." Ione's mother, Nyoko, smiled and unhooked her son from her teenage daughter's deadly neck lock. After Daisuke was on his mother's arms, nodding off, Ione did a victory-dance. Secretly, even Daisuke was happy for his sister. She had wanted to go there for as long as he could remember, and now she could. _And_, he thought, _I only have eight more years until I can apply. I want to beat my sister in grades!_ With these thoughts, he fell asleep again. Nyoko silently put him in his bed, tucked him in and gave him a kiss goodnight. She went into the livin groom, closed the door after her and turned to her daughter. She smiled kindly.

"So, it's happening, then." She stated.

"Uh-huh! I also got a list of school supplies I should buy before starting." Ione answered and sat on a green, soft sofa. Her mother joined her.

"When does the school start, dear?" She asked and held her daughter in a hug. Ione wrapped her hands around her mother's waist and stared into the TV, not really watching it.

"It starts in two months."

"Well, there's plenty of time then."

"Yeah..." Nyoko stroke the teenager's hair and stayed silent. She was truly happy for her daughter. Ione was strong-willed, relentless and hot-headed. She also knew that she would not dance on flower petals in that school; they did make the students face monsters... Suddenly, Ione stood up, releasing her grip on her mother.

"I'd better go into my room and start organizing stuff."

"Honey, it's in two months!" Her mother exclaimed, surprised that for once, her daughter would actually do something in advance, not leave it to the last minute.

"I know! It's too little!" Ione huffed out and vanished into her room. Nyoko watched at her closed roomdoor, and smiled gently. _Yep, _she thought, _she is so much like me in her age._ In Ione's room, she had begun to organize her clothing and other materials into bags. She looked at the list and crossed out those she already had, and planned to buy those she didn't. All the time, she had a genuine, happy smile on her lips. _I truly hope I'll meet new people in there..._ She wished and glanced at her family photo, the one with her father. She took the picture into her hands and ran her finger along the outline of a handsome young man with short, auburn hair, gentle blue eyes and a grin plastered on his face. On her shoulder was a small girl with auburn hair on pigtails, about the age of ten and beside him stood a young woman with a baby boy, about two years old on her arms. Ione smiled at her father.

_'See? I told you I'd get in and be a great warrior. Just you wait.'_ She put the picture back to it's rightful place and allowed her gaze linger on it.

_'Just you wait, pops.'_

_

* * *

_

There! And now, a shout-out to all fellow FF and other fans! I need 10 female OCs and 10 male OCs, along with teachers that are in the academy. Please visit my webpage to find out what teachers are still needed, and I take suggestions about other jobs in the academy. And now, to the rules.

1) You can only submit one character, so think it over, **carefully**. Also, if you have a character in mind, but it needs perfecting, mail me and I will save you a place in the academy. But, I must recieve your character within **one month **after this, or I **will** give your spot to someone else. The lenght of this place-saving is negotiable.

2) Please, when you write to me or write the bio of your character, use **proper grammar**. I am sick of these idiotic "i'm 2 good 2 b here, u all suxor my boxor, 4 i am teh best." 'cause folks, that's just annoying as hell.

3) Upon sending me your character, I may ask some hints from you or ask you to help me write: If you do, I'll give you glory in the chapters. If not, no hard feelings, I'll just have to think of something myself.

4) Please, please don't send me e-mail like "Where the heck is the next chapter, I've been waiting forever!" Well, believe it or not, it takes time to write a good story. Please, be patient with me!

Now that those are over, here is the entry form. Copy it into Word or something, fill it, and send it to me via **E-MAIL**. If you post it in reviews, I won't even care if it's there. Mail it, or lose it.

**My penname:**

Character's name:

Age:

Race:

Gender:

Birthday:

Height:

Weight:

Hobby:

Profession:

Specified field:

Weapon of choise:

**Special attributes/Basic description:**

**School info:**  
Used uniform:

Used visor:

Visor color:

**R-2000 Stats:**  
Name:  
Looks:

Additional info (i.e, personality, pet peeves, bad habits, etc.):

_When sending this form, I allow my character to be used in this story, to be an adviser when it comes to my character, to help with the story and I throw myself into the wind, what ever may come my (characters) way, let it come._

Signature: XxXxXxXxXxX.

(Delete the X's and put your penname there) Thank you! Oh, and if you want a neat signature, write your name with a font like "Script" in WordPad or something like that. But, check my website, post your characters, and we'll see what future brings!

With love,

Tenshi-Hikari


	2. Eternia Academy, Chapter 1

Hiya! Next chappie! Remember to review!

Dear **ZodiacKitty**: What did I say about sending your profiles into the reviews? **HM?**

Thank-yous to all those who have sent me their profiles and found enough strength to talk with me. Thank you!

And a special thanks to the guys over at Square Insider! I would've never gotten this ready if it hadn't been for the Al Bhed translator on your site! Thank you!

Key:  
_'Something here'_ means thinking.  
"Something here" means talking.  
_"Something here"_ means talking in some other language than English, i.e, Al Bhed.

* * *

"Excuse me, ma'am? Is the newest Weapons Monthly somewhere here?" Ione asked from an older looking woman behind a counter. The woman looked at Ione from her magazine, lazily glaring at her. The first thing Ione spotted was a huge mole on her chin. A **huge**, dark, **hairy** mole. 

_'Holy moley! No, Ione, keep the thoughts in check!'_

"It's right over there, on that shelf." The woman stated and pointed at a really tall shelf at the side of the store, close to windows. Ione followed her pointed finger and stared at the series of shelves in a slight dread.

"Uh, thanks, mol- I mean ma'am! Thank you ma'am!" She panicked, stuttered, smiled nervously and skulked away to the shelf. As she arrived, she realized the damn thing was at least seven feet tall!

"Drats." She mumbled and stood on her toes, trying very hard to reach the newest issue of her beloved magazine.

_'Yes, just a little closer... That's it, that's... OW! Damnit, so close!'_ She thought and cringed as her right arm was almost popped out of its socket. Again. She spun it around in a wide circle, just to make sure that it was still working. Thank Hyne it was. She looked around for something that might give her at least ten inches more in height. Anything was fine, a cardboard box, a jar, a chair, heck, even one of those office-chairs would do fine! She spotted a funny looking... Thingy. It was completely round, gray, it had a few holes and it was on wheels.

_'... Figures, the only available thing is a thing with wheels. Oh, Murphy, I hate you and your laws!'_ She sighed and grabbed the pedestal, putting it near the shelf, taking support out of it as she stood on the pedestal and said her prayers. To her luck, she actually reached the magazine and took it into her hands. She was eyeing the cover, marveling the beautiful scythe on it, and didn't notice that she was leaning towards the shelf, the pedestal inching away from underneath her... She did notice it, eventually. But too late.

"Whoah!"

THUD!

"Owww..." Wow, getting your magazine was such a hard work to do.

_'That's gonna be bruised in the morning...'_ She thought as the pain in her butt began to get greater and greater. Out of all the ways to land, she landed on her butt.

"Hey, are you okay?" A smiling blonde girl asked and extended her hand towards Ione. She grabbed it and the blonde pulled her on her feet. Ione hissed slightly as she was pulled on her feet. She steadied herself and wiped some dust off of her.

"Yeah, apart from the nasty bruise and a bruised pride, thanks."

"I'm Rikku. Who are you?" The blonde asked and smiled, revealing a small gap between her front teeth.

"I'm Ione. Are you from the Al Bhed-tribe?" Ione asked, shook her hand and looked at Rikku's eyes, squinting slightly.

"Yeah! How did you know?"

"Well, those pupils are a dead give-away." The brunette stated and let go of the blonde's hand.

"Oh yeah. Oops." Rikku said and rubbed the back of her head while grinning sheepishly.

_"Cu, fryd yna oui tuehk rana?"_ (So, what are you doing here?) Ione asked in fluent Al Bhed.

_"Oui cbayg Ym Prat!"_ (You speak Al Bhed!) Rikku asked, clearly surprised.

_"Oayr, sus yht tyt vunlat sa du cdito ed."_ (Yeah, mom and dad forced me to study it.) Ione answered, taking the magazine she had reached for in the first place.

_"Dryd'c cu luum! Famm, du ouin vencd xiacdeuh, E's kaddehk cibbmeac vun so vencd clruum oayn eh dra Eternia Academy." _(That's so cool! Well, to your first question, I'm getting supplies for my first school year in the Eternia Academy.) Ione's head shot up so fast that Rikku swore she heard her neck crack.

_"Oui duu!"_ (You too!)

_"Oui duu? Ur so Kut! E'ja kud du damm so luiceh! Yunie!"_ (You too? Oh my God! I've got to tell my cousin!) And so, the blonde, short girl begun to search for her cousin in the bookstore, dashing in-between the shelves and dodging random people. Ione stood there, clutching her magazine in a dumbfounded way and stared into space. The blonde's energy-levels are scarily high... She turned her attention to her magazine and flipped some pages. Yes, an article over rifles!

"Here she is! Yunie, this is Ione, Ione, this is my cousin Yuna." Next to Rikku stood a slightly taller brown-haired girl that looked about a year or so older than her cousin. Her hair was short, but she did have a long hair-wrap that ran all the way to her shins and close to her feet. She was smiling kindly, and her eyes shone in a bright way.

"Hi."

"Hello." Yuna said and she and Ione shook hands. There was a small silence between them.

"Soo, does either of you want to go and get a soda?" Ione tried sheepishly. Her newfound acquaintances smiled and nodded.

* * *

"So, you're only half Al Bhed and you're a full Al Bhed?" Ione asked, pointing at the girls in turns and swallowing a mouthful of apple pie. They both nodded. 

"Yeah, that's why my other eye is blue and other one is green." Yuna said and pointed at her eyes. Ione leaned in closer to look.

"Oh man, those are so cool!"

"Really?" Yuna asked, a bit startled.

"See, I told you they were cool, Yunie, but did you listen? NO!" Rikku ranted fourth and neither of the brunettes really listened. They just smiled knowingly and waited for the blonde to cool off a bit. Yuna took a spoonful of strawberry ice cream she had in a small plastic cup and glanced at her cousin.

"Rikku, your ice cream is melting."

"It is? Ohmigosh!" And the blonde began to shovel her precious treat into her mouth with a great speed. Ione paused from her glass of soda and stared at Rikku.

"Don't you get a brain freeze?"

"Oh no, I've been eating ice cream like this for... Well, forever! I'm used to it now." She managed to say between bites. Ione looked at her new, crazed friend and the corner of her eye twitched.

"...Riiight."

"Hey, how 'bout we exchange phone numbers? It could come in handy." Yuna suggested and Ione nodded in agreement, taking out her clam-type, metal-blue-colored cell phone with a small R-2000 mascot attached to it. Rikku put her spoon into her mouth and whipped up her bright yellow phone, along with a small trinket that looked like a claw of some sort. Yuna's phone was white with a kanji of "life" on it. They all switched phones, clockwise and typed their numbers. When they were done, they switched the phones again and typed the numbers. Then, finally, everyone received their own phones.

"So, the school starts in a week. We'll talk in the phone, okay? I gotta go now, or my mom is so gonna have my head in a silver platter." Ione said and stood up, picking her messenger bag with her.

"Okay, we will. Talk to you later!" Yuna said and smiled. Ione smiled back and waved as she left the table.

_'Yes, at least I won't be all alone in the Academy...'_ She though and smiled to herself.

_'And I even got new friends! Things are looking up for ol' Ione!'_ She grinned happily and hissed a 'yes' as she pumped up her fist. Unfortunately, this huge multi-tasking of walking, thinking, using one's arms and hissing took so much brain-capacity out of Ione, that she forgot the use of her eyes and bumped into someone. She ricocheted backwards and nearly fell over, but regained her balance, after a short moment of flailing arms and grunts.

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" She hurriedly apologized and bowed slightly.

"I don't mind, it's not every day a beautiful girl bumps into me." The man said with a charming smile. Ione looked at the man she bumped into and her eyes widened. It couldn't be... The man wore a long, light brown trench coat, brown pants, fingerless gloves, blue-ish shirt and a black cowboy-hat. His hair was on a long ponytail and his mischievous eyes were green.

"Irvine? Irvine Kinneas?"

"Oh? You know me?" The man asked, slightly lifting his cowboy hat.

"Duh, you were my neighbor for five years, damnit!"

"... Ione? Holy Hyne, is that you! You've... Grown..." He said and he kept looking Ione all over.

"Kindly say that while looking at my face, thank you." The girl said and smacked Irvine's shoulder.

"Ouch, sorry." He winced and lifted his hands up in a sign of surrender. Ione glanced at her phone's clock and panicked.

"Oh shit, mom's gonna kill me! See ya later Kinneas!" And with that, she sped away with great speed.

"Uh... Yeah... See ya." Irvine answered, standing there dumbfounded and watching his newly found old childhood friend scurrying through the crowd, probably towards her house. Little did they know, that they'd meet sooner than they expected...

* * *

It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, the clock striking 10:00 AM. At the airport, at gate 79, a familiar family was saying their see-you-laters, along with many others, basking in early morning sunlight that filtered through the huge, floor-to-roof windows. Outside, at the runway, big planes and some space shuttle like crafts moved around or stood still. One that drew the attention of many was a big ship that slightly resembled a red dragon. It was beautifully designed and decorated. It glistened in the sun, and many young students-to-be took this vehicle as an emblem of freedom and adventure. This vehicle would carry so many hopes and dreams into the Eternia Academy; this giant craft was known as "Ragnarok". But, back to the family known as Umino. 

"Mom! You're choking me! Dai-kun, you're stopping my feet's blood circulation!" Ione cried out as her mother and brother decided to latch themselves on her. Her mother was crying, as well as her brother.

"Guys, stop it! You're making me teary-eyed too!" Now Ione was sniveling alongside with her family.

"I'm so proud of you, honey! Imagine, my little girl, so grown up!" Her mother said between sobs and let go of Ione. She took a handkerchief and wiped her tears away, still sniveling. Daisuke was still attached to his sister.

"Dai. Let me go, I need to board the Ragnarok."

"I dun wanna, who am I gonna annoy if you're not there?" Daisuke cried out. Ione kneeled to the level of her sibling.

"Look, Dai. When I'm in the academy, you need to protect mom. You're a big boy already, and dad would be proud of you." Daisuke stopped crying and looked at his older sister.

"He would?"

"Yeah, I know he would be. Like I am and mom is." She wiped some of Daisuke's tears away and smiled. Daisuke wiped his nose and the rest of the tears, got a serious expression, straightened up and saluted his sister.

"I'll protect mom, I will!" Ione stood up and saluted her eager brother.

"Carry on!" Ione's amused eyes met her mother's. She smiled happily.

"I'll send V-mail and write, okay?" Nyoko nodded and smiled through her tears. Ione began to walk backwards. (V-mail video-mail)

"Bye guys! I'll call when I get settled!" She turned around after seeing her mother nod, wave and her brother waving as well. She had already sent her trunk to the ship, and she had her backpack with her, containing many small things she might need on her trip. Given, the Ragnarok **was** fast, but it would still take some time to actually reach the academy. Ione's family watched as she gave her boarding pass at the door, then turned and waved, before vanishing into the doorway. Nyoko wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye, giving a one-armed hug to her son.

_'She truly is her father's daughter.'_ She squeezed Daisuke's shoulder.

_'No doubt about it!'_

* * *

"Let's see, B-2, B-2, B-2, B-2, where are you?" Ione walked on the aisle between many cubicles inside Ragnarok. The cubicles had two benches facing each other, and between them was a table. One of these cubicles housed up to four people. 

_'This place looks more like an aeroplane, or a bus!'_ She thought to herself, apologized to a boy she accidentally bumped into and kept her eye out for B-2.

"A-37 to A-40, A-41 A-44, A-45 to A-48, A-49 to A-52, B-1 to B-4, bingo!" She slid herself to a chair next to the window, sighing happily and taking her bag off her back, put it on her lap and looked out of the window. She saw her mother and brother through the windows faintly, but she did. A sad smile surfaced on her lips.

_'Kinda bittersweet feeling, innit?' _She thought and rested her right cheek on her right palm.

_'But, I'll talk to them later today!' _She reasoned and her sad smile turned into a happy grin. She reached for her small, yet spacey navy-blue bag and drew out a magazine. She paused to look at the cover. Typical of her, it was Weapons Monthly. Her grin got even bigger, if possible, as she placed her bag into a small corner of the wall and the bench, putting the magazine on the small table and opening it. This young girl had a passion for big, loose shirts; hence she was wearing a dark green pullover with long sleeves that continued past her fingertips. She had picked a navy blue skirt that went below her knees. She also loved boots, so she had picked her very favorite, black and sturdy boots that ended half way to her shins. In her auburn hair was a brightly yellow hair-band, holding her braids away from her face and keeping them in check for her. She flipped a page and continued to read.

A sudden shuffle of someone getting on the benches snapped her out of her gun-littered world and she lifted her gaze up, only to find out that a girl had taken a seat before her. The girl had nifty, black, spiky hair with red tips, blue-gray eyes and full lips. Ione made a mental note that she looked like she had been weight lifting all her little life, no gal would've been that fit had she wasted her life lying around. And to top off her slightly dark look, she had a pentagram necklace. Ione hadn't realized that she was staring at her, until she graciously pointed that out.

"What the fuck you lookin' at, kid?" Ione looked her square in the eyes.

"Your hairdo."

"Ya ain't the one to talk, kiddo."

"Stop calling me kid, Goth-gal, or I swear I'll kick your ass."

"You and who's army?"

"Mine. I have trained me an excellent army of hamster-commandos! Fear them!" At this, the girl before her cracked up and begun laughing and Ione joined her, clutching her stomach. As their all-out laughter had dissolved into occasional giggles, Ione decided to introduce herself.

"Hi, the name's Umino Ione."

"Mine's Kichi Nohikari. Nice to meet'cha!"

"Ditto."

"What'cha reading?" Ione lifted her magazine so that Kichi could see the cover.

"Niice."

"Innit?" As Ione browsed the magazine, she hit an article over claws and daggers.

"Hey, excuse me for a sec? I'm gonna try and find a friend from this thing." She knocked the wall of Ragnarok for emphasis.

"Yeah, sure." Kichi waved her hand in a dismissive gesture and took out a book. Ione, on the other hand, grabbed her backpack, took out her phone and begun dialing a number of her blonde techno-enthusiastic friend, Rikku. As the phone rang, she began walking around.

"Yello!"

"Hey, Rikku! It's me. Where are you? There's something I need to show you." Ione talked into the phone, trying to scout for Rikku.

"I'm on the seat H-34, I think it's pretty much at the back." Rikku's voice rang from the phone, slightly cracked and distorted by the phones.

"Okay, I'll be right there! Bye!"

"Later!" And so, Ione embarked her miniature quest to find the seat known as H-34.

* * *

And that was that! I still need OCs, but to make few things **absolutely **clear: 

1) DO **NOT** SEND YOUR PROFILE IN TO THE REVIEWS! I REPEAT, DO **NOT** SEND THEM INTO REVIEWS! That way, you won't get accepted, and if you send it again by e-mail, I'm not sure if I'll let you in.

2) No Mary-Sues or Gary-Stus! They are annoying, they have nothing to learn and they might as well be booted out of the Academy the minute they lay their foot inside the premises. Read my rant/article about Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus over on my website, if you dare.

3) Again, if you send a character, think it over, make sure it's perfect for your liking, tweak it, modify it, just be sure to **think it through.** No quickie-characters, please!

4) You are free to review my story, yes indeedy, just don't send your profiles in the reviews. I live and feed on reviews, don't kill me in starvation!

5) I also need teachers into the academy. If you like to torture teenagers more than to be one, teaching is for you. n.n

Ja ne!  
Tenshi-Hikari


	3. Eternia Academy, Chapter 2

Nyu! Another chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I've had a writer's block quite some time now. But, read, enjoy, and review!

**_Warning: _**_Major_ _LeBlanc character-bashing! Can't help it, I hate her._

**Disclaimer:** I **still** don't own this stuff, only my character and the story. So nyah!

Thank you for my beta-reader, **Silver Rage**!

Key:  
_'Something here'_ means thinking.  
"Something here" means talking.  
_"Something here"_ means talking in some other language than English, i.e., Al Bhed.

* * *

After talking with Rikku for twenty minutes, Ione was slowly making her way towards her own seat, carrying her magazine and a can of soda. She had been correct when she figured that Rikku might like the article over claws and daggers. Ione had also shown Rikku her small tracking bug she had done as a small project at her house. She was looking at it and holding it in her right hand. She had yet to open the can, and she was about to thank herself because of it. As she got closer and closer to her seat, a girl about a year or two older than her blocked the path with herself and her two lackeys, one was short and slightly pudgy (read: massively over-weighted) and the other one was tall and lanky. Ione had no idea what it was, but something just screamed 'bitch' in the girl. Maybe it was her skanky outfit? Or the fact that her whole demeanor screamed 'arrogance' and 'I'm better than you'? Nooo... Couldn't be. She tried to move aside so that they would be able to pass, being a nice girl that she was, but the girl shoved her into the benches. Ione yelped, and hoped nothing bad happened. 

"Out of my way, loser." And with that, she was gone. Ione stared at the ceiling of the ship for a while, until she saw Irvine Kinneas' smiling face.

"You know, we have got to stop meeting like this."

"Don't mess with me Kinneas, I have a can of soda and a magazine. They can be transformed into a deadly weapon." Ione glared up at her ex-neighbour. He lifted his hands up in the universal sign of surrender again, and said nothing. Ione sat up and looked around. With Irvine, the cubical was shared by three other guys. In front of Irvine there was a blonde guy with a strange tattoo on the left side of his face and casual, blue-red attire. On the tattoo-guys right there was a brunette with a long ponytail, slightly tanned skin and a silver cross hanging on his neck. On Irvine's left, there was another blonde guy with a strange, slightly 19th century-type blue attire and, for Ione's surprise, a monkey tail. Ione kept staring at the tail.

"Is that real?" She asked and pointed at the tail. The tail moved as the blonde turned to look at it.

"No, it's a robotic attachment I've taken just for fun. What do you think?" He answered and quirked an eyebrow at the girl.

"Oh Hyne, you have a... A... A monkey tail! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh Hyne, a tail!" Ione cracked up and began laughing, while doubling over. The blonde with the monkey-tail looked at her, slightly offended.

"Yeah, um, remember when I told you about that slightly psychotic ex-neighbour-girl I met again a while ago?" Irvine asked, and after few people nodded, he pointed at the hysterical girl on his lap. After Ione realized that he was calling her psychotic, she stopped laughing. She turned her face to Irvine, and grabbed his cheeks, stretching them rather painfully.

"I'm not psychotic! I'm mentally unstable, it's a different thing!" She said, and Irvine smacked her hands away, rubbing his cheeks.

"That hurts."

"Duh."

"Psychotic and mentally unstable are the same thing, you know." The other pony-tailed brunette pointed out and looked at the girl lazily. Ione turned towards him.

"No they are not."

"Yes they are."

"No, they are written differently and mentally unstable doesn't sound so negative." She reasoned and looked at the guy.

"Sure it doesn't."

"Oh, I apologize deeply, o' king of sarcasm." She said and mock-bowed before him, as much as she could.

"Then what are you? The queen of it?" He asked, getting slightly ticked off.

"No, I'm the lowly chambermaid who can easily put something lethal into your bed, assassinating you, doing a coup d'etat and assuming my place as the queen, dancing on your grave every now and then. Besides, were I the queen, we'd be married and that would be just nasty." There was a slight silence.

"A simple yes or no would've been just fine, freak."

"Takes one to know one."

"Wow, that's so mature."

"Coming from me it is."

"That's believable."

"Oh ha ha." Ione stuck out her tongue at the guy, who in return, rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'd like to stay and continue this _charming_ conversation, but alas, I have a certified bitch to slaughter. Adios, muchachos." Ione said, hopped off of Irvine and went on her merry way, to 'slaughter' the girl who just pushed her down.

"Has she always been that vengeful?" The guy with the tattoo asked.

"Well, you push her, she pushes back, but harder." Irvine answered, shrugging it off.

"Speaking from experience there, cowboy?" Monkey-tailed blonde asked and poked Irvine.

"Unfortunately, yes."

* * *

"Who's this?" Ione asked when she reached her cubical. Next to Kichi, there was a strange girl with really long powder-blue hair on a braid with dark blue and silver streaks. Ione had a hard time seeing her eyes; the girl's bangs reached her eyelids. She had a necklace with a black snowflake on fire on it, and her skin was pale. 

_'Hyne, what is this girl? An ice-spirit or an albino?'_

"I am Yuki Kage, if you must know." She answered, barely looking at Ione.

'_Yup, an ice spirit. Joy. I can already feel the temperature dropping…'_ Ione thought and took her seat. She pulled her backpack in front of her and reached inside. She took out a small, rectangular-shaped metal box and a small joystick.

"What are you doing?" Kichi asked and looked at the stuff closely. Even Yuki seemed to have interest about these strange things.

"There was a blonde bitch that shoved me aside while I tried to come here. I want to return the favor." Ione said with a maniacal grin dancing on her face. She opened the box and tapped a small, solid-looking metal ball, activating it and it hopped up, hovering in the air.

"What's that?"

"This, dear Kichi, is an electric shock-ball. My dad designed these things many years back for prank-purposes, and gave me the blueprints. These send, upon contact with organic material, a slight shock of electricity through a human's body. It's not so much that it would be lethal or dangerous in any ways, it just hurts like shit if it hits you." She moved the stick a little, just to see if it worked. The small ball had some electricity coursing through it's surface as it moved around.

"Purrr-fect." Ione purred like a happy cat and smiled in a sadistic way.

"... Kid, you scare me when you act like that." Kichi said, looking at Ione, slowly burrowing deeper into the cushioned bench.

"And right now, I thank myself for quick reflexes. I had this tracker-bug in my hand when she pushed me, and I accidentally stuck it into her clothes." Ione said and clicked some buttons on her joy pad.

"Follow the tracking signal." She ordered, and the small orb hovered, beeped faintly and flew away, following the signal.

"Now what?" Kichi asked.

"Now, we wait." Ione answered, put the metal box back into her bag, along with the controller, switching it off. Soon after these deeds were done, a shrill scream echoed in the passenger's department, making many people to turn their heads towards the scream's origin.

"Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" A woman's voice was heard and some frantic shuffling, along with yelps and laughter as the others laughed at it. Ione craned her neck to see what was happening, along with Kichi and that Yuki-girl. There she was, in the middle of the corridor, trying to swat the orb away, constantly getting the painful shocks. Ione quickly retracted her head into the safety of the cubical, and laughed it off. Kichi joined her, and Yuki chuckled. After a while of chuckling, even she began laughing.

"This was you, wasn't it?" A demanding voice rang out, and all the three girls turned their head towards the source. It was the blonde girl, looking very dishevelled and messy, her hair slightly standing up and her finger pointing at Ione. All three girls fought a good battle to keep the laughter inside, but eventually, lost.

"Ah ha ha ah-I w-wish that would've been m-me, b-but someone... Pfft! Beat me to it!" She blurted out and began laughing even harder. So did the other two, Kichi had doubled over and Yuki was laughing in a sadistic way, truly enjoying that the girl was so badly messed up. She seemed to be ready to explode any minute now...

"Mark my words, I, LeBlanc, will revenge this!" The blonde huffed and trudged away. Ione couldn't control herself and kept laughing. Unbeknownst to LeBlanc, the small orb had hovered back up to Ione, lacking some power but reaching it's destination. Ione grabbed it, took out the metal box and put it back to it's rightful place, still giggling.

"Oh man, that was priceless." Kichi exclaimed and wiped the corner of her eye.

"I knew these thingies would come in handy one day." Ione said and grinned as wide as she could.

"But, who was she?" Kichi wondered, getting serious for a second.

"That was LeBlanc, a third year. She thinks she rules the school, but she only rules over the stupid bimbos and the idiot jocks. In other words, she is the leader of the popular." Yuki said, spitting out the words LeBlanc, bimbos, jocks and popular.

"I take it that you would be very pleased if they'd end up physically very hurt." Ione remarked.

"Oh yes." The pale girl smirked, and it really, really scared Ione. She seemed to be very... Sadistic?

"So, that pretty much means she's going to make your years at the school a living hell, eh?" Kichi asked, leaning to the table.

"Oh, no, au contraire, she's going to make things interesting! Nothing like a good stress-factor to keep me going!" Ione beamed back.

"… You know, out of all the people I've met, you are the first stress-junkie." The darker girl said and blew a rebellious strand of hair away from her face.

"But it's so much _fuuun!_" Ione squealed, switching into her hyper-mode.

"Ugh, you two are so annoying." Yuki muttered and tried to dig something out of her small, pale blue bag.

"Better get used to it, because whether you like it or not, we're gonna bug you a lot." Ione challenged the girl, who in return, banged her head to the tabletop.

"Oh Hyne please say it ain't so!" She groaned and glared at the table.

"Yes it is. Too bad for you, Glacier, but you have us as your friends now." Kichi marked from her corner.

"Oh joy." Yuki's words were dripping with sarcasm, but deep down, under all that icy exterior, she was, strange enough, somewhat happy that she knew some ones that were at least a little more towards normality. Well, that Ione-kid seemed to have a multi-personality-disorder and was extremely annoying because of it, but she seemed like a good person. Maybe she'd stick around them, just for the heck of it. Nuthin' better to do, anyways.

* * *

Sorry, short, I know! But _puh-leeease_ don't skin me alive! I'll write more after I retrieve the next chapter from my dad's laptop. Accidentally forgot it there. Oops. 

Read my rules from the previous chapter, if you may. It clears things up.

Woo, I finally got a male OC in! O mah Gawd! Thank you, **Alhazard**! n.n

And now, this is important: The romantic links in this story are undetermined. I ask you to send me suggestions about which couples should be in this story, and if all of you authors of your OCs want a girlfriend/boyfriend. If there's an intermixing of OCs, I need to confirm this from both sides.

Oh, oh, oh, see that small purple-y button there in the left lower corner? That thing that stands just next to that purple-y bar that says "Submit review"? Click it. It likes to be clicked. It makes both me and the button happy.


	4. Eternia Academy, Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hello, I'm back again! This here must be one of **the** longest chapters I have ever submitted. Seven pages in Word. x.x

Well, my beta-reader wanted a longer chapter than the last one, so here ya go, **Silver Rage!** This one's for you! n.n

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own shit! So stop pestering me, 'mkay?

**Key:**  
_'Something here'_ means thinking.  
"Something here" means talking.  
_"Something here"_ means talking in some other language than English, i.e, Al Bhed.

-----------------------------------------

_(A/N: I was using Esthar from FF8 as a source of inspiration in this town, so try using your imagination!)_

"Okay! Calm down, people! Don't worry about your luggage, they will be delivered to you, now please board the lifts in an orderly manner!" A man shouted out through a megaphone, shouting instructions and trying to get his voice over the noisy crowd of teens and young adults.

"Weee! We're here!" Rikku shouted and jumped up and down, at the terminal. Their few-hour ride on the Ragnarok was now over, and all of the students were filling the large terminal in a rapid pace. During these few hours, Ione and Kichi had managed to extract some information about their oh-so-silent co-passenger, finding out that she had slight tendency to pyromania, often setting fire to various things… That's when Ione and Kichi decided not to get her really angry, Hyne knows what might happen **then.**

The terminal they all stood in was at the outskirts of the academy grounds, and it was a few minutes elevator-ride to the school. Actually, the elevators were more like floating platforms, making a regular route from the terminal, to the academy, back to the terminal, back to school, transporting ten students at each time. There were about ten of these "lifts", so all of the students would be in the academy in a matter of a few minutes. The first-years were going on them first, seeing that they all were going to have a small briefing about the school rules and such. Ione awed at the beautiful architecture of the terminal. Everything was polished and shiny, the walls were pretty much made of glass (strong enough to ward off possible monster-attacks) and the whole place was colored in a calming, blue theme. There were LCD-screens all over the place, showing miscellaneous things in them. The whole place was filled with talk, and it all seemed so surreal to Ione. She had never seen so many people in the same room!

"Okay, next patch! Keep the line moving! Oh, and if there's any room in the lifts, the second years can start piling in as well!" The elderly man called out with a megaphone and gestured at the newly arrived lifts. Rikku grabbed the daydreaming Ione, snapping her out of her daze and making her board a lift with them. Kichi dragged a slightly pissed Yuki into the same lift, alongside with the girls and some other first years. They all got seated and waited for the lift to move. When every lift was filled, they nudged into movement. First, it was pretty slow when it began it's climb up, but then it kicked into speed inside the tube.

"Whoah!" Rikku gasped as the breeze made her hair flow around.

"Oh Hyne, this is so fun!" Ione shouted back, making sure she wouldn't fall off. The tube turned see-through, and everyone in the lift admired the view beneath them. There was a small, town-like place, where people were moving around, walking in the pathways.

"Oh my! That's Etheris, the place you can visit on your free time!" Rikku informed Ione, as they both marvelled the calm blue and crystal-like buildings basking in the midday's sunshine. Suddenly, the lift began rising upwards. Every person in the small, round platform jerked a bit, it was a fast movement. As the lift finally became to a full stop, they saw a similar lobby to the terminal, but it seemed to be slightly smaller. A gruff looking man in his thirties was there to greet them. He had blonde hair, pilot's goggles over his head and a blue jacket.

"Okay, okay, kids! Off the lifts!" He barked they all obeyed. What, the guy looked scary!

"Go through this door here and wait until yer called." He instructed, constantly chewing on a small toothpick. They all quickly scurried off the platform and followed his instructions, walking through the door and into the lobby of Eternia Academy.

"Oh..." Ione breathed out.

"Hyne." Rikku continued and they both stared at the lobby. It was built in a circular form, and the diameter must've been close to 25 meters. The lobby continued all the way up, the ceiling situating itself somewhere in the altitude of one hundred or one hundred and twenty meters. The ceiling was made of some see-through material, possibly glass. Everywhere, on different stories, the current teachers and other staff of the school were gathering and taking a good look at the new first years. Small balls of fluff were flying near them, and some of the staff were staring, pointing at the students and talking. Some were leaning into the railings, the space between the floor and the railing shrouded with greenery. The whole school was colored with bright, crisp and soothing colors of blue, icy blue, white and other similar colors. All around, they could see different doors, windows, benches, screens and touch-sensitive hologram-panels. All and all, this could be described by a small, simple word:

Heaven.

Even though Ione was missing her family, she couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be so bad to live in the academy until the holidays. She felt a nudge and turned to Rikku, who discreetly pointed at a guy that walked past. Ione glanced at him. _Not bad at all._

After all the first years were present, they were herded into an auditorium. Ione resisted the urge to suddenly shout "Moo!" as they went, but it seemed that someone else took care of that for her. A faint "Moo!" came from somewhere behind her, causing her and many others to crack up and begin laughing. The auditorium itself was absolutely magnificent. There were many rows of navy blue, soft benches and every bench had a table in front of it. At the front of the room, there was a big screen, a podium and the area in which this podium resided seemed to be made of glass and it was elevated. Ione awed at the sight, until someone pushed her forward and she stumbled into some benches. She glared at the guy, who just shrugged at her and went forward. The guy was her age (Duh!), he seemed to be muscular and he had silver hair reaching about his chin. He was wearing a black leather outfit. Seeing as she was practically lying on top of the benches, she chose that bench row to be hers. She went around to the middle of the bench row and parked herself there. No one was gonna move her from there! Rikku had seen a friend of hers in the crowd and excused herself. So Ione was sitting there, staring at the ceiling, seeing that it was wonderfully crafted.

"Hey kid! What's up!" Kichi greeted her and slid onto the seat on her left.

"Hi! Nothing much. I'm waiting for this info-thing to start." Kichi looked around.

"Well, it'll take a while, because these headless chickens here have the worst speed in getting to their seats." She said and glared at some people passing by. Ione rolled her eyes at her and just sat there, staring holes into the air itself and immersed deep into her own thought. Before she knew it, everyone was at his or her seats and her attention was drawn to the front.

"Ahem, your attention, please!" A woman with strange, dark green hair stood on the platform. She was wearing a long, navy-blue skirt and a white shirt. Her hair was tied loosely, and it was hanging on her right. She smiled at the full auditorium.

"It's good to see that so many of you have been accepted into our fine academy. I am headmistress Djinn Emeraude, and if you cause any trouble what so ever, you will have to deal with me. Got it?" Murmurs of agreement filled the large room.

"Good. And now, I will tell you all you need to know for now. Any additional info can be asked from the senior students, teachers, me or our website. Now, item number one: Student ID cards." She clicked a small button on a remote, and behind her appeared a big picture of herself, in a shape of a card. There were three orbs in the left corner of the card.

"These three orbs," headmistress started and a red circle appeared around the orbs. "Display your current level, your average school grades and your R-2000 robot's mood." She clarified, each orb flashing as she listed the uses, from left to right. The red ring around the orbs disappeared and appeared back into the lower left corner, around a square. It had a barcode in it and it said "Djinn Emeraude" in it.

"Here is your name and a barcode. The barcode is needed to track down your whereabouts, and it is used as a key to the doors.

Also, it is your most important part in your ID card, the barcode itself **is** your ID. And now, to the other parts of the card. Over here..." She pressed a button in her remote, and the red ring moved itself from the lower left corner to the upper right corner. It read 'in' underlined.

"This indicates your position. If you are inside the school-parameter, it will say 'in'. If you are outside, it will say 'out'. Simple, no?" Again, the students murmured in agreement. She pressed the button on remote again, and the red ring moved to the lower right corner, around a small, rectangular, golden area with a number 7195 on it.

"And now for the best part. Here is the current state of your student account. You will receive 5 Gil for each lecture you attend. It will be deducted, if you skip your lecture or your grades are bad. Upon completing an exam, you will be rewarded by the following: " She said, and on the big screen appeared a list, stating the following:

**A- and up -------- 800 Gil.**

**B to B ½ --------- 600 Gil.**

**B- to C ---------- 400 Gil.**

**C- to D ----------- 300 Gil.**

**D- to E ----------- 200 Gil.**

**E- to F ----------- 100 Gil.**

**F- and below --- 100 Gil deduction.**

"Now, this system may seem somewhat harsh, but we've noticed that this way, the students are more motivated when it comes to exams." Headmistress cleared up and smiled.

"Everyone with me so far?" She looked around for anyone who might have fallen off from her speed.

"Good. And now, off to the uniforms. There are three general types of uniforms in this academy, as you can see." The uniforms appeared at the big screen.

"Before you even boarded into our Ragnarok, you were asked to choose one of these three uniforms. I realize that boys have very little options when it comes to uniforms, but that's why all of the uniforms can me modified to certain extent. And then, our visors." The image of the uniforms faded away, and was replaced with a picture of the three visors.

"God, how long is this gonna take?" Kichi muttered and Ione agreed. Her butt was going numb...

"You were also asked to pick one of these three visor-types. Then you were asked to pick a colour that suited you the best. As some of you already know, these visors are vital when it comes to your life in this academy. Your messages, map, and VR-training will be displayed on these visors. Don't lose them, they are needed **every day.** The visors and uniforms will be on your beds in your assigned dormitories." Djinn looked at the new students sternly, as to clarify her point.

"And then, our multi-use-portable computers that many of our female students seem to be so fond of; our robots, R-2000!" A small, furry creature floated to her, colored in different shades of blue. It had big eyes, big ears, small wings and a tail. Ione admitted to herself that they were kinda cute.

"Tweet?" It beeped in a questioning tone, sending half of the females in the room into shouting 'aww' and otherwise gush over it.

"Each of you is given one of these. They are your notebooks, phones, computers, companions and important aids in your schoolwork. Be careful, though, because these little things need attention and care every day. All of this is stated in the manual. Now, I'll give you all 15 minutes to do your own robots. Input their colours and name." As the headmistress had finished saying this, small screens opened up in front of every student in the auditorium. A small keyboard popped up as well, and a small, completely white R-2000 appeared on the screen.

_"Please select the colour for: Fur."_ This sentence appeared on the screen, above the R-2000. A colour-chart appeared to the right side of the screen, and Ione put her finger on the chart. She moved it around, watching as the small robot's fur changed it's colour as she scrolled through the chart. She was so excited, that she kept grinning like a total idiot. The auditorium was filled with soft murmurs, as the students began to talk with each other, all the while customizing their robots.

"What color, what color, what color, **what color**?" Ione panicked and clutched her head between her hands.

"Stop panicking, girl, and go with your gut-feeling!" Kichi stated, slapped Ione gently over her head and glared at her. Ione stared at Kichi and then at her own stomach. Just then, it let out a loud grumble, causing Kichi to hammer her head to the back of the seats in front of her. Good thing no one was sitting on that particular seat...

"Yeah, my gut certainly wants to tell me _something._" Kichi's glare intensified. Now it wasn't just a glare, it was 'thank-your-luck-we-are-somewhere-public' murderous stare. Ione began scooting away from Kichi, only to hit another student.

"Kichi-san is scary when she glares like that..." She mumbled and smiled nervously.

"Ouch!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Ione found herself looking at a girl, about her age, with brown hair and uplifted tips, green eyes and a funny, yellow dress.

"It's okay. I can understand why you backed away. Hi, I'm Selphie Tilmitt." She said and offered her hand.

"Hi, I'm Umino Ione, and Ione is my first name. This is Kichi-san, I met her aboard Ragnarok."

"Hi! I'm Selphie!"

"Hi, I'm Kichi." Ione peeked at Selphie's R-2000-progress.

"Waii! It's so cute!" The R-2000 had yellow fur, brown eyes, warm orange ears, wings and tail.

"Thanks! What should I name it?" Selphie asked and pressed her right index finger to her lips, thinking about it.

"Eh... Amber?" Ione suggested.

"Or, Ambra. Both mean the same thing, just a little different." Kichi calmly stated.

"Oooh, I like Ambra. Rare name! Thanks, Kichi-san!"

"No prob." Finally, Ione decided to concentrate on her R-2000. She closed her eyes and allowed her finger to glide on the screen. She stopped it and opened her eyes. Apparently, she had stopped it over lavender. She smiled happily; it was actually a good color. Then, everything just clicked into place: The robot's ears, tail and wings got colored with purple, and its eyes became simple and black.

"And now, for the name! Let's see... She's purple... Lavender? Noo, too long. Plum? No, too... Simple."

"Ugh, am I the only one with brains, damnit! Put 'Sumomo' as its name. It's cute, it can be shortened into Su-chan **and** it means plum." Kichi said, rolled her eyes and sighed. Ione looked at her for a while, and then glomped her.

"Thank you, Kichi-san! You have a great naming-sense!"

"Let me go!" Kichi shot Ione 'the-mother-of-all-death glares'.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry, don't look at me like that!" After Ione peeled herself off of her now-quite-pissed neighbour, she typed in Sumomo as her robot's name, and Su-chan as its nickname.

_"Thank you!" _A message appeared on the screen, and then it shut itself down, retracting back into the table it came out of. Ione noticed that both Selphie and Kichi had finished their robots as well.

"Fifteen minutes are up! Those who are in the middle of creating, please hurry up, we need to move on!" Headmistress suddenly shouted and looked at the students. Slight shuffles were heard, and then complete silence.

"I take it that everyone's ready then?" The green-haired woman asked and beamed at the crowd.

"Lovely! Now, I assume you all know what our holo-maps are." Again, the people agreed.

"Wonderful. In any case, they are all on 3D-version, when the maps of the R-2000-robots are in 2D. They might be easier to navigate right now. Of course, when you feel confident about the whereabouts of the classes, you can use the 2D-map. But hey, this is just me, I got lost thirty-seven times on my first week here... Let me tell you, the teachers were **not** happy about that!" She chuckled. People were a little shocked about her statement, but eventually, joined her chuckling. Guess the teachers weren't so perfect after all. Always nice to know that!

"Oh, I think we're about done here." People were cheering now. "But before I forget..." Groans filled the large room.

"Oh come on! It's not that bad! I just want you to know that the R-2000 robots usually adopt their owner's personality, so there might be some fighting amongst the robots. Curfew time is twenty three hundred hours, or eleven P.M. At that time, you must all be in your assigned dorms, and if you are caught outside your dorm after that, you will get a detention. Any questions?" People were looking at each other, and then a Rikku raised her hand and stood up.

"Yes?" The headmistress gave her the turn to speak.

"Yea, um, what do you mean, 'if you are caught'?" She asked and patiently waited for the response. Even if Ione was very far away from the headmistress, she swore she saw her eyes glinting in mischief.

"Just that. If you are caught, and only if, you will get detention. If no one is caught, then we can't possibly give any detention, now could we?" She asked, smiling and leaning her head to her left hand, her thumb supporting her chin and her index finger at the side of her face. Ione could sense the atmosphere in the room lighten up considerably as she glanced at her neighbours. Both Kichi and Selphie were smiling, if not grinning at this new "revelation". The headmistress looked at her wrist and gasped.

"Oh dear, is it already that much? Well, before you go, I'd like to say this. Tomorrow's classes will begin at o-nine hundred hours sharp. Each of you shares a dorm room with three other persons of the same sex. You will all receive instructions on how to go from here if you visit your dorms now. You will have the rest of the day off. The "older siblings", as we like to call our older students who have volunteered to help the first years, will be outside waiting for you, so they could guide you to your dorms. Don't be afraid to ask them about the school! And now, if you will, your new pets!" She snapped her fingers, and suddenly, small balls of fur were starting to float down from the ceiling, all going towards students. The swarm of robots looked like a living rainbow, there were so many different colors!

"Oh wow!" Selphie squealed and watched the robots.

"Yeah." Ione breathed out and looked at Kichi. She, too, was awe-struck at the sight. Slowly, but surely, the small computers began to float towards their owners, flapping their tiny wings and dancing in the air. Three robots were floating to the direction of the three girls, each of them beebing happily. A purple-colored robot floated towards Ione, and she extended her hands towards it. It happily flew into them and beeped.

"Tweet! Beep-bop!" It beeped and from the position of the eyes, it was smiling. Ione looked at it for a while, then smiled.

"Aah! Su-chan is so cute in real life!" She gushed, and Su-chan flew to her face and kissed her cheek.

"Chu!"

"Eeeee!" Ione squealed, grabbed the robot and hugged it gently. She saw Selphie hugging her Ambra and squealing, making the robot mimic her squeals, and Kichi was currently scratching her robot from behind it's ear. When Ione brought the robot right in front of her face, it opened it's mouth. There was a small card inside, about the size of a credit card, if slightly bigger. Ione took it (even though she didn't really like the idea of reaching into someone's mouth, be it a robot or not.) and examined it. It was a picture of her smiling brightly, along with many circles, a barcode and a box saying "In".

"Ooh, look, look! My ID-card!" She said and showed it to Kichi and Selphie.

"I know! I have it too!" Selphie said and showed her own. She was smiling as well.

"Pretty hard not to have it." Kichi commented and showed her own, where she was smirking, her face in a ¾ view. Selphie rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean!" Kichi smiled triumphantly and petted her robot.

"Krhm!" They heard the headmistress clear her throat. Everyone fell silent, and listened to her.

"That's it! Now go to your dorms and explore the school! Hurry up!" She smiled and waved her hands in dismissal.

"Yes ma'am!" The whole room chorused together, more or less in sync. All of the students began pooling out of the auditorium, Ione and her friends among the last. After Ione had gotten out of the auditorium, she heard a voice.

"Okay, dweebs! We're the "older siblings"! Ask questions if you want!" Ione turned to the source of the sound, and her mouth dropped. No way... She began walking towards the young woman, bottling up her bubbling joy. The person, a red-haired, green-eyed woman was standing in the middle of a group of guys and girls.

"Oh my God, what is she doing?"

"I have no idea, but she wouldn't dare to approach her!" Some students were discussing.

"Approach who?" Kichi appeared next to them. The group of girls and boys stared at her like she was a retard, but after she cracked her knuckles, the all hurried to explain, now slightly terrified of her.

"The legend of this school! That woman there is Rouge Matsuri!" A boy said, pointing at the redhead with a toothpick in her mouth.

"Ya, she's like, one of **the **coolest students in this school!" A girl continued.

"I heard she once trashed an entire classroom!" Another girl said.

"And I heard that she single-handedly beat a T-Rexaur!"

"You so heard wrong! That's not possible!"

"I totally heard that she has won so many fights that she's like, the second teacher in the martial arts class!" Kichi rolled her eyes. Oh God, gossiping was something she did not like. Come on, a T-Rexaur? Single-handedly? Tch, yeah, right! Get real! She then turned to watch Ione.

"Roux Matsuri!" She called out to the vibrant redhead. She turned to Ione, just in time to catch her when she dived at her. Ione hugged her, and she returned the hug. She then, after releasing her, ruffled her hair.

"Why, if it ain't my little cousin Ione! How are ya, kid?" She smirked at Ione. She swatted Roux's hand away and tried to look angry, but her smiled betrayed her.

"I'm good. One thing. Why are you an 'older sibling'?" She made the air-quotations with her fingers. "You sure as hell don't seem like one!"

"Gee, thanks for the encouragement, kid." Roux replied in a sarcastic way.

"Naw, I was forced to do it. That old fart, Highwind, didn't like it when I accidentally smashed one of his inventions when I was brawling with some idiots." She shrugged and shoved her hands into the pockets of her black jeans. Her hands were covered with black, fingerless biker-gloves. She was wearing a black top that exposed her midriff, along with a bright red jacket.

"I heard that, Matsuri!" The man with the goggles and blue jacket shouted from the level one above the ground. He looked angry.

'_Hey, that's the same guy that I saw earlier! So he's a teacher, then... How the hell did **that** happen?'_ Ione thought.

"Aww, shut yer trap, Highwind! I'm doing my time here! Sheesh!"

"Be grateful your classes ended last year, Matsuri! Or else you'd be in one big fucking trouble!" He shouted back.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! Such language in front of these kids! Why, I'm abhorred by your behaviour, professor!" Roux snapped back. The man whom Roux called Highwind turned and waved his hand like he wasn't even going to **answer** that one. Ione stared at her cousin in shock, as well as most of the first years.

"You... You... You just dissed a teacher!" Ione exclaimed and stared at Roux.

"Heck, he's got a thick hide, he can take it." She waved that one off and turned at her friends.

"Hey cuz! Where are the dorms?" Ione shouted and Roux stood up straight.

"Oh yeah! That's what I was gonna tell you!" She snapped her fingers and looked at the first years.

"Okay, ladies! Me and my girls'll take you to the girl's dormitory, and the guys can follow Sephiroth and the other guys!" She said and patted the shoulder of a tall young man with really, really long silver hair. He was dressed in a black polo shirt and jeans. He sighed slightly at Roux's introduction.

"Come on, let's go." He motioned the boys to follow him and began walking away. Ione looked at the remaining group of girls and her eye twitched again. Nearly all of them were drooling after the silver-haired man, sighing like the lovesick girls they were. Few girls, including Kichi and Ione, seemed to be immune to his "charm". Kichi looked at Ione, rolled her eyes and motioned as if she had the noose of a rope around her throat, tugging it up and pretending to be hanged. Ione nodded at this and opened her mouth, pointing it with her fingers, pretending to puke. Kichi nodded at that comment. She walked up to Ione, as the girls began moving after Roux and the other girls. After walking to an elevator, the girls were divided into small groups, each one led by an "older sister". The robots were chatting away with each other, about lord-knows-what. Ione went with Roux's group, along with Kichi and Selphie. There were only two elevators, so only two groups were going up at a time. After they got into the elevators, and they began moving up, Roux began speaking again.

"Okay, ladies! The third floor is the dormitory floor; both gals and guys live in it. Savvy?" Everyone said they understood it. After they exited the elevators, they saw the other group was there as well. Their "older sister" was a woman with blonde hair, the school uniform number two and glasses. Roux greeted her.

"Yo, Quisty, this is my cousin, Ione. Ione, this is Quistis Trepe, a bit of a stuck-up, but a nice girl to read into tests with." She gestured towards the woman, Quistis. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Gee, thanks for the positive introduction, Red."

"No prob, what are friends for?" Roux smiled and began walking to the dorms. Ione waved at Quistis, who waved back and mouthed "nice to meet you". Ione mouthed "you too" back. After the girls were at the intersection that held many hallways lined with doors, Roux began speaking again.

"Okay, ask your robots where your rooms are." She said and waved her hand. The girls looked at her strangely, but did it anyways. Ione turned to her pet.

"Su-chan, where do I sleep?" The robot cocked it's small eyebrow, and then tweeted. It began to fly into the corridor marked G-4. Before she could run after it, Roux stopped her and handed her a small slip of paper.

"Call me later, kid." She smiled and let Ione go.

"Sure thing! Bye!" And she ran after her robot. It was hovering near a door marked 458. Ione petted her small companion, who purred in delight. She swiped her card into the reader, and the small red light turned green, and the same sound you hear unlocking a hotel door was heard. Ione opened the door, and walked in. She gasped in awe.

"Oh dear Hyne..." Was all she said. The room was spacey, and it had two double beds. One was at the left back corner, looking from the door, and the other was put to go along the back wall. There was one big window on the opposite wall from the door, and on the same wall with the door, there were cupboards. Below the window there was a loveseat and two recliners, all in the same shades of blue, along with a small, round, deep brown coffee table. The beds all had a curtain to protect the privacy of the occupants. On the right there was another door, clearly marked "Bathroom". Ione stared at the beautiful, light sky blue room, the wall-to-wall carpet and the lovely light-colored beds. She inspected the beds. They had name tags on them, but none of the said her name, except the lower bed against the back wall. She looked on the bed, and saw a small white box on it. It had a plastic "window" in it, allowing Ione to see her uniform. Her visor was on top of the box. On the small wall on the door side there was a screen, it looked like a computer screen. Ione noticed that her luggage was on top of her bed. She carefully removed the luggage and the box from the bed, and jumped on it, observing that she could easily sit on it without hitting her head into the top bunk. The screen was flashing, and there was a command on it. As Ione approached it, it seemed to activate the sound.

"Please identify yourself." A small text appeared near the right side. "Please show your ID at the scanner." A small panel slid off a small dark cube. The cube had a small, red light inside it. Ione dug her card out again and showed the barcode to the panel. Sumomo flew on her lap and looked at the screen, intrigued by the lights. The mechanical voice came back.

"Student identification confirmed. Welcome, miss Umino Ione." The female voice informed, and the screen changed into a dull, dark blue color, along with some icons on it. Ione stared at the screen, slightly dumbfounded.

'_Oh Hyne, how much money are they putting on the students?'_ She thought and kept staring. She snapped out of her daze, when she heard the door open. She looked at the door, and saw her new dorm-mates: two girls were standing at the doorway.

"Hi!" She said and waved at them.

"Hiya!"

----------------------------

Oooh, what will happen to Ione? Who are her new dorm-mates? Why can't I have a bed like that? These questions will be answered (except for the bed-part) on the next thrilling chapter of...

Eternia Academy!

**G'bye!**

Well, friends, that should quench your ever-present thirst for stories. At least for the time it takes to wobble to a fridge and grab a bite to eat or a soda to drink. O.o


	5. Eternia Academy, Chapter 4

A/N: Nyes, after a long wait, here's a chapter! Have fun!

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing a fictional story about my own work, would I?

* * *

"Monty Python? Isn't that an old comedy-show? It aired… I dunno, half-a-century ago?" I racked my brain for some tidbits of information. The girl before me, called Flashheart, grinned happily. 

"Well, it actually came as a re-run a decade ago, and I got hooked, so yeah. But it **is** a comedy show!" She cleared up and tucked some rebellious strands of her black, ice blue and lilac-streaked hair behind her ear. Her lilac eyes shone when she was allowed to talk about her favourite things. She was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with dark red, thick stripes on the sleeves. Her shirt said "Cross me once, shame on you. Cross me twice, you sing soprano." She also had simple, slightly faded light blue jeans and sturdy sneakers colored black, grey and with red shoelaces. She had dog tag hanging at her neck; I could not quite make out the pattern of it. It did seem to be a letter, like an A, or something. The R-2000's of their owners chatted away themselves, obviously enjoying each other's company. It had black fur and red eyes, crimson wings, ears and tail and its name is Darkest Night. It belonged to Flashheart. Another ball of fuzz floated around the room. It belonged to the other girl, Yuffie Kisaragi. The robot had green fur, brown eyes, green wings and a brown tail and its ears were brown. It's called Wutai for some reason. Yuffie came out of the bathroom, brushing her hair and drying it off. Did I mention we have these neat, cordless hairdryers, a bathtub, a Jacuzzi and many cabinets? Yeah. I know. It sucks to be me. Hah! Note the sarcasm.

"Hey, Yuffie! Wanna head down for some grub in a few?" Flashheart called out and turned towards her.

"Just a sec, I'll just dry my hair!" She responded and kept combing her hair. Jeez, for a ninja, she sure takes a lot of interest in grooming. Yuffie took a white band and wrapped it around her head, fastening it securely. She was wearing a green tank top, arm warmers by the color warm orange, black mini-shorts (_Well she's bold, to say the least…_) white socks and comfy-looking shoes (_I have **got** to know where she bought those. Sorry, my inner-shopper took control for a while._) in shades of brown. She looked really cute, actually. Suddenly, the door opened, and someone stepped in. There was a moment of silence… Then I broke it.

"**YOU!"**

"**YOU?"** The guy pointed at me while I pointed at him. Holy crap-a-loony, that's the same guy that was sitting with Irvine! The guy with the long, brown hair on a ponytail who accused me of being a psycho! I bolted up, yanked him completely into the dorm room and grabbed his collar.

"WhatthefuckdudewhatthefuckareyoudoinginourfuckingdormroomthisisaGIRLS'dormroom!" I said fast while shaking him by his collar, and all in one breath. Wow, that must've been a new record. He looked at me, not completely grasping what I had just said.

And honestly, I'd been scared if he did understand what I said.

I took a deep breath and started all over.

"What the fuck dude, what the fuck are you doing in our fucking dorm room, this is a **GIRLS'** dorm room!" I shouted, slightly slower, but still at the same volume. He grimaced and slapped my hands away. Owch. That hurt.

"Okay, one, I think I just went deaf. Two, I have no idea what I'm doing here, this is where Limey flew." I raised my eyebrow at him. Lime-what? He looked at me like I was a complete retard and pointed up with his left index finger, right at his R-2000. It had lime-green fur, deep blue eyes and white ears, wings and tail. I blinked.

"He looks like a parfait." I felt someone's hand connecting with the back of my head, resulting a hearty 'slap!' and causing me to bob my head forwards.

"Owch, what the-"

"That wasn't nice, Ione!" Flashheart warned and glared at me. Hooo boy, she looks scary. I rubbed the slightly sore spot at the back of my head and smiled sheepishly.

"Apologize to him."

"Him who?" Flashheart raised her hand threateningly…

"Okayokayokay!" I turned back towards the guy and nodded my head.

"I apologize to the both of you." I ain't gonna bow in front of him!

"You know, a name would be nice." Yuffie piped in and clasped her hands to my shoulders. Hey, I'm not going to attack hi- no wait, yes I would. Ooops. Ha ha ha…

"Okay… A little space if you will?" He asked and we all backed up a bit. I mean I was still pretty close because, you know, I had been the one shaking his brains out of his ears. Hee hee hee… What a lovely mental image… As we backed out of his personal space, he straightened and cleared his throat.

"My name is Shun Kuroda. And you all are?" I was about to tell him my own opinion about him, when Yuffie piped up.

"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, that's Flashheart and this here is Umino Ione. Nice to meet you." She smiled in a friendly way. Hah, nice to meet him my ass.

"Umm, this might just be me, but maybe we should go to the Headmistress' office?" Flashheart suggested, slightly bothered by the fact that I was growling right now.

"Well, at least **some** of you have bright ideas." Shun remarked and sent a meaningful glance to my direction. Clench fist, un-clench fist. Clench fist, un-clench fist…

"But how are we going to find her office?" Yuffie asked, slightly baffled. I calmly walked out of Yuffie's grasp and went to my bed. I dug out my visor. It was a skeleton of it was supposed to look like. Just the grey parts were showing. I put it on, the visor fitting my head snugly. That's funny; I hardly feel it at all… I put my hands to the 'antennas' as I called the doll-ears and pressed them.

"Visor, 50-percent mode." I called and the contraption hummed into life. I suddenly found a blue, glass-like surface before my left eye, saying 'Welcome'. Su-chan floated near me, curious about what I was doing.

"Su-chan, please download the map of the school. Mark a route to the Headmistress' office."

"Beep!" She (I decided Su-chan is a girl. Don't ask.) beeped and seemed to smile, and suddenly, the map of the school sprang to my vision. The blueprint was in golden color, and it showed the overall structure of the school first, then zooming into my current whereabouts, then a small, dashed line in silver came from my room and continued through the hallways.

"Okay, I got the map. Let's go cows, the barn's burning! (1)" I said energetically and pumped my fist up. Shun looked at me strangely, cocking his eyebrow up at me.

"Great thinking, Ione!" Yuffie cheered and grabbed her visor, but didn't switch it on. Flashheart retrieved her visor as well, and so did Shun. I walked to the door, and it slid open with a gentle hiss.

"Let's go!" I chirped excitedly and vanished to the hallway. I walked a little while, and then I stepped aside as Yuffie and Flashheart stampeded past me, giggling all the way. I smiled and shook my head, and then I glanced back to see if Shun was coming. He was almost behind me, and I started walking again. We walked in silence. Damn it irritates me when people are taller than I am. This guy was taller by like, 6 inches or something. Drats. We walked out of the hallway and into the elevators. Flashheart and Yuffie were running around and seeing all the possible things in the vicinity. We turned to the left and they both followed us. Suddenly my stomach growled. Loud. REALLY loud.

"My master calls me!" I chirped and turned on my heels, heading to the opposite direction, towards the cafeteria. I almost made it!

But I was yanked back. Rather harshly. I glowered at the guy.

"Shuun! Let me goo!" I whined as he dragged me behind him.

"Nope. I'm going, you're going. I suffer, you suffer." He explained his reasoning.

"But, but, but! All the food! The gorgeous amounts of food! All the main dishes, meats, fruits, potatoes, hot dogs, pasta-dishes, desserts, chocolate-based goodies, Danishes, sugary things, sodas and other things! I neeeeed foooood!" I whined again and tried to give him my best puppy-dog-eyes. Apparently, it didn't work. DRATS AGAIN!

"You'll get some food after this, now stop whining!" He turned his head towards me.

"And walk on your own!" He snapped as he had been dragging my food-deprived body behind him, as I mournfully gazed to the direction of the cafeteria. Farewell my dearies, but worry not, for I shall come back!

"But can't you hear them? They're calling for me! Listen! Eat me! Eat me! _Eaaaaat meeeeeeee!_" I whined but it had no effect. Man, I'm loosing my touch on this whole "puppy-dog"-thing. I reluctantly get up and walk on my own two feet. My stomach reminds me again of the fact that I need food.

"If I keel over and die before we reach the Headmistress' office, I'm so haunting your sorry ass for the rest of your life." Shun rolled his eyes.

"Joy to the world."

* * *

"Ah… So what's the problem?" The Headmistress asked and smiled to us kindly. 

…. You know, I'll shut up now or else I'll get a week full of detention. Or more.

"Well, Headmistress, the problem is that Shun here seems to be assigned into our room." Yuffie explained. Thank Hyne for the ninja-girl! I glanced around the Headmistress' office. This place is awesome! The walls are lined with bookcases full of books. The bookcases looked old, and expensive. They were made of something dark red, most likely wood. The office had wall-to-wall light blue carpeting with a deep green mat laid at the middle of it. The Headmistress' desk was made of the same material as the bookcases, and it was facing the door, the back towards the windows. And the windows? Hoo boy, the windows. They were French windows. Magnificent things they were. They were from floor to the roof, spilling light into the room and making it seem even bigger than it already was. The Headmistress was sitting in a comfy-looking chair behind the desk. Her small robot was busy arranging the pencils and paperclips to notice us. There was a holo-screen on the desk, presumably served the job of her computer screen. We four kids were sitting in wine-red armrests. I think I like this headmistress.

"Ah ha, he he… Another one?" She smiled, slightly troubled.

"… Another one?" I asked. I don't like the sound of this. The Headmistress smiled still.

"Yes, well, you see, we switch the dormitories every year, you know, to let you meet new people and so on. Apparently, this year we have a lot of boys and not enough rooms in the boy's dormitory-wing. And the groups residing in each dormitory were created by random after the names were entered, so…" She smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"So there are other boys in a group of girls as well?" Flashheart asked and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Oooh, I think she's getting a headache. She ain't the only one, let me tell you.

"Yup!" The Headmistress exclaimed. Oh Hyne, we're in trouble now.

"But Headmistress-" Shun started but he was cut off.

"Oh please, _please_ don't call me Headmistress! It makes me sound old and wrinkly." She made a face and waved her hands, making us chuckle.

"Just call me Djinn, or Emeraude."

"Okay… Emeraude." Shun started again, slightly unsure.

"How long will it take to get me into a room where all the others are males as well?"

"A week."

**"A WEEK!"** I screeched and gripped the sides of the armrest and shooting half-up.

"At least?" Emeraude said, slightly taking aback by my outburst and trying to sink into her chair.

**"AT LEAST!"** Shun bellowed and did the same as me. Emeraude whimpered and sunk deeper into her chair.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But things are so confusing right now and-"

"It's okay, I was just surprised, is all." I said and sunk back into my chair, letting out a breath. I think Shun mumbled "me too" and sunk back himself. Emeraude put her hand on her chest and sighed. Come on, we're not **that** scary, are we?

"Look, I'll do my best to sort this out, okay? I'm sorry about this, but I'm afraid you have to live at least a week in your current dorm, Mr. Kuroda." Emeraude smiled apologetically. Shun sighed.

"It's okay, I'll manage. I hope." He sent a meaningful glance to my direction.

"Relax, will ya? I'm not going to murder you in your bed." Yuffie cleared her throat.

"Though the idea is tempting."

"I knew you'd say that." Flashheart commented, and it was Shun's turn to rub the bridge of his nose. I swear, that guy is going to have a nervous breakdown by the end of that week. Or he'll rub the bridge of his nose to oblivion, which ever comes first. Bets, anyone?

"Well, if that was all, I think you should go eat. I think there are other-" A loud shout interrupted her and she grimaced again. "Unsatisfied students waiting to get a swing at me. Literally." We all hummed at her joke and got up, wishing her luck and leaving the cosy office, only to see many angry students. I don't think I've ever left a room that quickly. Not since my little brother had beans and cabbage for lunch and… Yeah, you get the point, right?

* * *

(1) Sorry, this is a popular joke among the youth of Finland. Sorry, if you don't get it. Haha. God, it sounds so much better in Finnish…. 

Well, that was that. Nyurh. Laters:)


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